The end of an era...let's play Spellbreaker!

So, it's all come down to this. The third and final game in the Enchanter trilogy, brought to you by Kahran042, Head of the Circle of Enchanters, Defeater of Krill, Tamer of the Rainbow Turtle, and Hater of Gnomes. It all begins here. My standard IF color code which I used in Sorcerer still applies. Also, I'd like to warn all viewers that updates might not be as regular as for my previous two LPs, since I'm back in skool now. And now, let's get down to business.

SPELLBREAKER
An Interactive Fantasy
Copyright (c) 1985 by Infocom, Inc. All rights reserved.
SPELLBREAKER is a trademark of Infocom, Inc.
Release 87 / Serial number 860904

Council Chamber
You are in the Council Chamber of the ancient Guild Hall at Borphee. To the south is the entry of the Guild Hall. There is a meeting of the guildmasters going on. You are standing among a group of about ten sorcerers, each the master of an Enchanters Guild chapter somewhere in the land.

Let's wait around to see what's going on. After all, this is clearly an important meeting, so any info here will probably be important.

>z
Time passes...

Sneffle of the Guild of Bakers is addressing the gathering. "Do you know what this is doing to our business? Do you know how difficult it is to make those yummy butter pastries by hand? When a simple 'gloth' spell would fold the dough 83 times it was possible to make a profit, but now 'gloth' hardly works, and when it does, it usually folds the dough too often and the butter melts, or it doesn't come out the right size, or..." He stops, apparently overwhelmed by the prospect of a world where the pastries have to be hand-made. "Can't you do anything about this? You're supposed to know all about magic!"

Apparently, magic is starting to fail, and people are blaming me, just because I happen to be the head of the Circle of Enchanters.

By the way, I always thought that Gloth seemed like one of those uselessly-specific spells, but now I've realized that it's more likely a general folding spell that can probably be set for a specific number of foldings. Just a little side-note.

Anyway, let's listen to some more complaints.

>z
Time passes...

Hoobly of the Guild of Brewers stands, gesturing at the floury baker. "You don't know what trouble is! Lately, what comes out of the vats, like as not, is cherry flavored or worse. The last vat, I swear it, tasted as if grues had been bathing in it. It takes magic to turn weird vegetables and water into good Borphee beer. Well, without magic, there isn't going to be any beer!" This statement has a profound effect on portions of the crowd. You can hear rumblings from the back concerning Enchanters. The word "traitors" rises out of nowhere. Your fellow Enchanters are looking at one another nervously.

Good thing I'm more of a wine person...hopefully, there aren't any complaints from the Guild of Vintnors. But seriously, these people are way too reliant on magic. Can you imagine what would happen if it suddenly all just disappeared?

>z
Time passes...

A tall, gruff fellow begins to speak. This is Gzornenplatz of the Guild of Huntsmen. "I'm a simple man, and I don't know much about magic. But I do know that the wild beasts are kept out of the towns and villages not just by the huntsmen, but by spells as well. Just yesterday, one of my men was attacked and badly wounded by a troop of rat-ants. They'd slipped the bounds set down by a 'fripple' spell somehow. Are we going to let the sorcerers loose rat-ants on us, and worse?" He sits, glaring significantly at the now-angry clump of mages around you.

>z
Time passes...

As the huntsman's accusations are being absorbed and discussed, Ardis of the Guild of Poets takes the floor. He begins to talk about magic rhyming and spelling aids, and their lack.

In the midst of his splendid peroration, just as he was sketching out an insulting mythological allusion in iambic hexameter, the poet turns even greener than usual. His chin elongates and his skin begins to look sort of slimy. In the blink of an eye there stands at the podium, not the orator, but rather a large orange newt. "Breek! Co-ax! Co-ax!" it protests.

As you look around the room in shock, you discover that Ardis is not alone. Each and every guildmaster in the room has been turned into a frog, salamander, or other amphibian! All but one, that is: yourself!

No! There is one other survivor. At the rear of the room, a shadowy figure in a dark cloak slips quietly out the door.

Usually, when something like this happens, it's the shadowy figure in the dark cloak, so let's follow him!

>s
Guild Hall
This is the entrance to the Guild Hall in Borphee. To the north is the Council Chamber, and to the south is an exit leading outside. Little is left of the sumptuous buffet lunch. Only a loaf of bread and some smoked fish remains.
A shadowy figure in a dark cloak is running out the door.

The shadowy figure, its cloak billowing, charges south into Belwit Square.

Food is always handy in games like this, so let's pick it up before continuing to pursue our shadowy adversary.

>s
Belwit Square
This is Belwit Square. Its many historic and picturesque buildings are obscured by a cloud of orange smoke.

Looks like he's given us the slip. But maybe we might have something that will come in handy? Let's see what we've got in our inventory.

>i
You are carrying:
a chunk of rye bread
a smoked fish
a magic burin
a knife
a spell book

Hmm, maybe a spell will work? Let's check our book.

>read book
My Spell Book

The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).

Oddly enough, you have never before seen or heard of the blorple spell which now graces (or defaces?) your book.

Jindak and Lesoch are also new, but apparently not to the character. By the way, we've got Gnusto, Rezrov, and Frotz perma-memorized, just like in the last game.

Speaking of Lesoch...

>lesoch
A small gust of wind begins to roil the cloud. The cloud is unimpressed. The wind builds, slowly but inexorably, to hurricane force. The cloud starts to unravel at the edges, and then gives up and dissipates. Left behind on the ground is a small featureless white cube.

Hmmm, a plain white cube...sounds familiar. But what to do with it? I leave that as an exercise for my apprentices. Until next time!

Current puzzles:
A featureless white cube, possibly left behind by the shadowy figure.

Unexplored areas:
None.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a chunk of rye bread
a smoked fish
a magic burin
a knife
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections, apparently unknown to our hero until now).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 15 of a possible 600, in 12 moves. This puts us in the class of Charlatan.

Can we still chase after the figure, or is he long gone by this point? I would suggest mind probe, but I assume you can't do that on the run.

Barring that, the first thing you should do is deal with this cube. Rezrov, jindak, malyon, and what the hell blorple it. We need to find out everything we can about this object, I fear it may become important.

I concur.

Thirded.

There seems to be a strong consensus telling me to use assorted magic on this cube, so...

>get cube
Taken.

>rezrov cube
Although you complete the spell, nothing has happened.

So it's not a container...but maybe it's magical?

>memorize jindak
Using your best study habits, you learn the jindak spell.

>jindak cube
This spell detects magic in a large area, so directing it at an object you are holding won't work very well.

Nothing in the vicinity glows. Apparently there is no magic nearby.


Whoops. But maybe...

>memorize malyon
Using your best study habits, you learn the malyon spell.

>malyon cube
The casting feels wrong, and sure enough, your fingers grow numb.

This is something that sometimes happens in this game. As was stated in the introduction, magic is failing throughout the land, and that applies even to the Head of the Circle. As is such, my spells will randomly fail.

So, let's drop the cube, then try jindaking it again.

>drop cube
Dropped.

>memorize jindak
Using your best study habits, you learn the jindak spell.

>jindak cube
This spell detects magic in a large area, so directing it at a specific object is unnecessarily precise.

The cube is glowing with a faint blue glow.


So it is magical! But what kind of magic is it, I wonder? Maybe this is where Blorple will come in handy?

>blorple cube
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

It is pitch black.

And, of course, when in darkness...

>frotz me
The casting feels wrong, and sure enough, nothing happens.

>g
There is an almost blinding flash of light as you begin to glow! It slowly fades to a less painful level, but you are now a serviceable light source.

Packed Earth
This is a small room crudely constructed of packed earth, mud, and sod. Crudely framed openings of wood tied with leather thongs lead off in each of the four cardinal directions, and a muddy hole leads down.

If you haven't noticed, there are a variety of spell failure messages, which I will be including in the bonus materials.

Anyway, this cube appears to have some sort of link with the element of earth. So, let's explore these mystical connections...after saving, of course.

>n
Oddly, although there appears to be an exit there, you can't seem to force your way through it.

That's...hweird*. Hopefully the other exits will be more functional than this.

>e
As you leave, the cube reappears in your hand.

Hall of Stone
This is a long hall built of crudely dressed stone. The blocks are as tall as you and the ceiling invisible in the gloom above. Dirt trickles from gaps in the walls and ceiling. The atmosphere is oppressive, and there is a dry, stale smell all around. The corridor extends north and south from here.


So, when I blorpled the cube, I was taken to Packed Earth without the cube, then when I left Packed Earth, the cube appeared in my hand. So, maybe Packed Earth is somehow "inside" the cube? Just a little food for thought. Now, to explore this place.

>n
Smooth Room
Here a long north-south corridor meets an east-west cross corridor whose walls are polished to almost mirror smoothness. Just to your north is a huge scaly mass which fills the entire cross corridor. Its thickness is more than three times your height and its length is unguessable.

The scaly wall begins to move, undulating back and forth in the confined space. A musty odor permeates the air, and you hear scales scraping on stone. Finally, an enormous head slides into view from the east and stops with one monstrous eye staring coldly at you. You notice something unusual about the huge serpent: the tail, which trails out of the western hole, disappears into the gaping maw of the creature. You realize that the monster must be huge enough to make a complete loop!

Snake? Snake?! SNAAAAKE!

>s
Hall of Stone

>s
Ruins Room
Here the main corridor opens into a vast underground space. Your light can barely illuminate a fraction of it. All around are cyclopean blocks of stone, crudely carved statues, and constructs of unimaginable purpose. Nearby the portico of a building has collapsed, and a pillar has smashed the pavement and exposed a small channel filled with swiftly rushing water. Water stains indicate that at one time the water flooded the entire area. Wedged against a pillar, as though by rushing water, is a zipper.

Gratuitous anachronisms, ho!

>get zipper
Taken.

>examine zipper
This is a silver zipper about two feet long, with very fine teeth. The zipper is closed.

If it's closed, then it can probably be opened!

>open zipper
Opening the zipper reveals a dimly lit hole.

What could lie within?

>look in hole
It's dark inside, and you can't see anything.

>reach into hole
Odd, you can't really feel anything for a moment, but then, almost as though something was thrust into your hand, there's something there. Oops, it slipped away again.

Intriguing. I wonder what it could be, and how to get it? Well, that's everything we can do here, so let's check out the other exits from Packed Earth.

>s
As you leave, the cube reappears in your hand.

Cliff Middle
A narrow ledge, barely wide enough to stand on, interrupts the cliff here.
There is a dirty scroll here.

A scroll...I know just what to do with this!

>get scroll
Taken.

>read scroll
The scroll reads "throck spell: cause plants to grow."

>gnusto throck
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Slowly, ornately, the words of the throck spell are inscribed, glowing even more brightly than the book itself. The book's brightness fades, but the spell remains! However, the scroll on which it was written vanishes as the last word is copied.

Now, for the last cardinal exit.

Cave Entrance
A well-worn trail terminates here where a cave enters the cliff-side to the north. Outside the cave is a litter of bones, old hides and brush. The smell that issues from the cave is mephitic. To the east is the bottom of a sheer cliff.

You hear a noise from within the cave that sounds like a sneeze.

I wonder if that's the same cliff that I was at the middle of just now? Only one way to find out...

>e
Cliff Bottom
This is the bottom of a sheer cliff which towers above you. Jumbled rockfalls are all around you. A goat track (at best) leads up, and a well-worn trail heads west.

>u
Cliff Middle

Guess it is. Let's go back down and check out that cave!

>d.w.n.
Cliff Bottom

Cave Entrance

Cave
This is a natural fissure in the rock which was enlarged with crude skill into a spacious and comfortable room, at least if you're fond of caves. The floor is dirt, hard packed in some parts, loose in others. A low passage leads down. A large ogre bars the passage.

The ogre sneezes.

Ruh-roh...I have a feeling that he won't just let me through. But maybe I should test that...

>d
The ogre moves quickly to bar your way.

The ogre sneezes.

Well, that went better than expected. But I still won't be getting in there easily. Seems like a good time to check out that last passage from Packed Earth.

>d
You pull back at the edge, noticing just in time that the hole in the floor opens into thin air which goes a long way down before anything solid is reached.

Feh. I've done things way more dangerous than that. Geronimo!

>d
As you leave, the cube reappears in your hand.

Midair
You are in midair. You are dizzyingly high above a trackless wilderness to the east of a range of jagged mountains.
You have begun to fall.

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

Might as well enjoy the ride...

>z
Time passes...

Suddenly, from above, you are hit by a crashing blow! You twist and see that a huge bird has taken you in its talons. The bird is nearly the size of an elephant. It closes its huge claws gently around you, squawks (nearly suffocating you with its fetid breath), and takes off towards the west.

Well, it's slightly better than becoming a splotch on the mountains...but only slightly. But, hey, maybe there are some goodies in its nest?

>z
Time passes...

The roc gains height and heads west towards the distant Flathead Mountains.

>z
Time passes...

The roc continues to fly west towards the mountains.

>z
Time passes...

You are rapidly approaching a rocky eyrie containing an enormous nest.

>z
Time passes...

The roc circles over its nest, settles to the ground, and releases you.

In Roc Nest
This nest is made from skillfully woven tree trunks, small bushes, and large amounts of mud and roc guano for glue. Giant black feathers are everywhere. In the center of the nest is an egg the size of a small wagon. Nestled beneath the egg is a featureless white cube.
The roc perches on the side of the nest, watching you intently.
There is a stained scroll here.

Indeed, there are! Not only a scroll, but another cube. But how to get out of here? And, for that matter, what to do about having two cubes? It'll be kind of annoying to parse, after all. Oh, well. Let's just cross that bridge when we come to it.

>get cube
The roc, convinced you are threatening its precious egg, drives you away before you can snatch the cube.

Well, day-um. Hopefully it won't be as protective of the scroll.

>get scroll
Taken.

Now, let's get the heck out of here!

>memorize blorple
Using your best study habits, you learn the blorple spell.

>blorple cube
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

Well, we got a scroll out of that ordeal, at least, so let's do the standard scroll routine.

>read scroll
The scroll reads "caskly spell: cause perfection."

>gnusto caskly
Your spell book begins to glow softly. Slowly, ornately, the words of the caskly spell are inscribed, glowing even more brightly than the book itself. The book's brightness fades, but the spell remains! However, the scroll on which it was written vanishes as the last word is copied.

"Cause perfection," eh? Well, that sounds...useful, I guess. Anyway, this seems like a good place to leave off for today. Also, I'd like to give you a vote on what to call the cubes, since there are more than one, and just keeping them as "cube" will be a parsing nightmare. So, what do you want me to call this cube? It's linked with the element of earth, so keep that in mind, and see y'all later!

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through.
A big big big big snake snake snake!
A zipper with something inside that I can't get.
A sneezing ogre who won't let me through a passage in his cave.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.

Unexplored areas:
Down from Cave.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a zipper, contains a dimly-lit hole with something inside
a chunk of rye bread
a smoked fish
a magic burin
a knife
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 70 of a possible 600, in 81 moves. This puts us in the class of Parlor Magician.

*- This is not a typo.

Yay, Spellbreaker is finally here!

We should name this cube Rocky.

Yomin is clearly meant to be used on everything remotely resembling life.
> YOMIN SERPENT
> YOMIN OGRE
> YOMIN ROC
Edit: Almost forgot,
> YOMIN ME

We can always talk to the ogre, right? Maybe we can cure his sniffles, and become best buddies forever.

Actually, try CASKLY on the ogre too.

I was going to go with "Cube of Earth" but that would be boring. How about Clod of Dirt, just because I think it will be fun to see "you stare intently at clod of dirt" "you study the clod of dirt"

talk to snake

kill snake

lesoch snake

Can you frotz something and poke/drop it into the magical zipper hole to get a better view? I was going to suggest the magical burin, but it turns out those are small. Also, since you had it from the start I'm gonna guess that it's important... hmmph.

(And I just noticed I missed the Sorcerer LP. Off to read that...)

First of all, the cube. I've had two suggestions - "Clod of Dirt" and "Rocky." Now, there is a fact that slipped my mind when I was making the last update, so I might as well bring it up now. Cube names can only be up to six characters long, so, looks like "Rocky" it is. Also, the burin is used to write on the cubes.

>e
As you leave, the cube reappears in your hand.

Hall of Stone
You are beginning to tire.

>write "rocky" on cube
The word "rocky" is now written on the cube.

Now, for some of the other suggestions from my apprentices. First of all...

>open zipper
Opening the zipper reveals a dimly lit hole.

>frotz fish
There is an almost blinding flash of light as the smoked fish begins to glow! It slowly fades to a less painful level, but the smoked fish is now a serviceable light source.

>put fish in hole
Done.

Now, to see if that had any effect on the hole.

>i
You are carrying:
the "rocky" cube
a zipper
The zipper contains:
a smoked fish (providing light)
a flimsy scroll
a chunk of rye bread
a magic burin
a knife
a spell book

Hmm, so there's a scroll in the zipper! I know what to do with this.

Rant time! Actually, you can see the scroll even if there isn't a light source in the hole, yet when you open the zipper, it just says that there's a "dimly-lit hole," with no sign of the bleeping scroll. You would have no way of seeing the scroll unless you checked your inventory or typed "take all from zipper," even though you would have no reason to do so. Anyway, enough of this. Back to the LP.

>take all from zipper
smoked fish: Taken.
flimsy scroll: Taken.

>read scroll
The scroll reads "girgol spell: stop time." The spell is long and complicated.

Well, if it's long and complicated, that means it can't be gnustoed. But there were some other suggestions, though, mostly involving Yomin. So I'll memorize it a few times...

>memorize yomin
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell.
You are feeling tired.

>g
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell yet another time.

>g
You try, but you just can't memorize those complex syllables again. They slip out of your memory as soon as you cram them in.

...after getting some sleep, of course.

>sleep
Ah, sleep! It's been a long day, and rest will do you good. You stretch out on the floor and drift off, renewing your powers and refreshing your mind. Time passes as you snore blissfully.

You dream of an alchemist bent over his retorts, alembics, stinks and smokes. You awaken.

Again, if possible, I'll try to have as many dreams as possible displayed here, if not in the LP proper, then in the bonus material.

Now for some mind-reading fun.

>memorize yomin
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell.

>g
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell yet another time.

>g
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell yet another time.

>g
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell yet another time.

>yomin me
You would know better than I.

>n
Smooth Room

>yomin serpent
The serpent is bored, constricted, and caged. It's in a surly mood, thinking of its past. It was once a simple temple snake, well fed on sacrifices. It was too well fed, for it grew great, and its pride grew as well. For declaring itself the greatest of snakes, it was prisoned here, forced to swallow its own tail in mimicry of the true master of serpents. That was an age ago.

>blorple rocky
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

>w
As you leave, the "rocky" cube reappears in your hand.

Cave Entrance

>n
Cave
A large ogre bars the passage.

>yomin ogre
You get the impression of discomfort and annoyance. This is apparently not just for the usual ogreish reasons (general nastiness, bad temper, and lice) but because the ogre is suffering from hay fever.

The ogre sneezes.

Hay fever...that might be useful later...anyway, there was another suggestion for what to do with the ogre.

>memorize caskly
Using your best study habits, you learn the caskly spell.

>caskly ogre
The ogre looks pretty perfect as is.

Well, I guess he's perfect by ogre standards...there were also some suggestions for more things to do with the snake, so let's do them!

>memorize lesoch
Using your best study habits, you learn the lesoch spell.

The ogre sneezes.

>memorize blorple
Using your best study habits, you learn the blorple spell.

>blorple rocky
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

>e
As you leave, the "rocky" cube reappears in your hand.

Hall of Stone

>n
Smooth Room

>kill snake
The steel-like scales are impervious to your puny strength.

>lesoch snake
The casting feels wrong, and sure enough, your whole body feels as if your funny bone has been struck.

>memorize leosch
I don't know the word "leosch."

>oops lesoch
Using your best study habits, you learn the lesoch spell.

Yes, the "oops" command actually works now! ^_^ Now, if only "undo" worked... :P

>lesoch snake
Slowly, teasingly, a small puff of wind begins to blow. It quickly builds to gale force, then hurricane force, and just as you feel you are about to be swept away, it subsides.

Well, that didn't do much. Come to think of it, actually, schep suggested I yomin the roc, and it just slipped my mind until now. So...

>memorize yomin
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell.

>memorize blorple
Using your best study habits, you learn the blorple spell.

>blorple rocky
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

>save

Please supply a filename for save
Okay.

>d
As you leave, the "rocky" cube reappears in your hand.

Midair
You have begun to fall.

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You tumble helplessly into the earth, and the results are, of course, fatal.

**** You have died ****

You are floating in a dark, silent realm of nothingness. You don't know how much time passes, but eventually you hear the sound of soft footsteps. A figure in a dark cloak comes near. In a voice like ashes, it speaks: "How nice to see you again. Unfortunately, I still have need of you, so this foolishness can't be allowed. You'll have to go back."

You find yourself falling down a deep well of darkness, as the figure recedes into infinite distances.

Boneyard
This is a room of bones. Shoulder blades make up the floor, skulls the walls and leg bones the door frames. The west exit leads into darkness, but the doorway to the north opens onto a seemingly normal street scene.

Guess that the roc ride was a one-time thing. Based on that, I think that this might be a walking dead scenario. Either way, though, our first death of the LP seems to be a good place to leave off, so until next time.

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through.
A big big big big snake snake snake!
A hayfeverish ogre who won't let me through a passage in his cave.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.

Unexplored areas:
Down from Cave.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a zipper
a chunk of rye bread
a smoked fish
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife
a spell book
Apparently, the "rocky" cube and the flimsy scroll vanished when I died...I might have to restore to get them back.

Spells (annotations in italics):
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).
As well as a single shot of the girgol spell, which stops time...or at least I think I still have it...I can't seem to find the flimsy scroll anywhere.

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 80 of a possible 600, in 182 moves. This puts us in the class of Parlor Magician.

Death toll: 1 (fell to my death)

Is blorple dependent on where the cube is at all? I mean, there's not a lot you can do about it, what with it being in the roc's nest and all, but it's still worth a shot.

If I remember right, it's random. With maybe a guaranteed chance the first time. I think you can jump, and if you're not grabbed in a few turns, blorple yourself to safety and try again.

I also think in this game (unlike Sorcerer), you pretty much need to restore every time you die, due to lost inventory items. (And there are a few nasty surprise deaths...)

Even though it's technically Monday, here's Sunday's update. Sorry about the lateness, but it just kept slipping my mind until now.

First of all, something that I'm honestly not sure of.

Here goes nothing...

>blorple rocky
Nothing happens.

About what I expected, seeing as I don't have the rocky cube. But maybe...

>n
Belwit Square

>l
Belwit Square
This is Belwit Square. To the north is the ancient Guild Hall. A wide cobblestone street runs east and west. To the south is the storied Manse, home of the Mayors of Borphee for generations.

>i
You are carrying:
the "rocky" cube
a flimsy scroll
a smoked fish (providing light)
a zipper
a chunk of rye bread
a magic burin
a knife
a spell book


Hmm, it seems like the rocky cube and girgol scroll just reappeared in my inventory when I left the Boneyard. No need to restore, and now to try and get another roc ride and yomin the blasted thing.

>memorize blorple
Using your best study habits, you learn the blorple spell.

>memorize yomin
Using your best study habits, you learn the yomin spell.

>blorple rocky
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

>save

Please supply a filename for save
Okay.

>d
As you leave, the "rocky" cube reappears in your hand.

Midair
You have begun to fall.

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

You tumble helplessly into the earth, and the results are, of course, fatal.

**** You have died ****

You are floating in a dark, silent realm of nothingness. You don't know how much time passes, but eventually you hear the sound of soft footsteps. A figure in a dark cloak comes near. In a voice like ashes, it speaks: "You really don't seem to be able to take care of yourself, do you? A little more circumspection and prudence might be in order, don't you think?"

You find yourself falling down a deep well of darkness, as the figure recedes into infinite distances.

Boneyard

Normally, I would have cut this out, but I wanted to show off Cloaky's new death-taunt. Based on the fact that there are multiple death-taunts, I have a feeling that I only have three shots. But fortunately, I also have access to the Restore spell, so...

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Okay.

>d
As you leave, the "rocky" cube reappears in your hand.

Midair
You have begun to fall.

You are falling towards the ground, wind whipping around you.

>z
Time passes...

Suddenly, from above, you are hit by a crashing blow! You twist and see that a huge bird has taken you in its talons. The bird is nearly the size of an elephant. It closes its huge claws gently around you, squawks (nearly suffocating you with its fetid breath), and takes off towards the west.

>yomin roc
The roc grips you firmly in its talons. Your attempts to cast a spell just make it hold you tighter.

The roc gains height and heads west towards the distant Flathead Mountains.

After riding back to the nest...

>yomin roc
You sense a strong maternal urge.

>blorple rocky
Abruptly, your surroundings shift.

Packed Earth

And that's it for today. Until next time!

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through.
A big big big big snake snake snake!
A hayfeverish ogre who won't let me through a passage in his cave.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.

Unexplored areas:
Down from Cave.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a flimsy scroll (the girgol spell
a zipper
a chunk of rye bread
a smoked fish
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).
As well as a single shot of the girgol spell, which stops time.

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 80 of a possible 600, in 198 moves. This puts us in the class of Parlor Magician.

Death toll: 1 (fell to my death)

One way get the roc's nest cube could be to cast Girgol in the nest, then take the cube and Blorple it out of there. It doesn't seem like the right way, but it's got to be worth a try.

Could work, so let's give it a try.

In Roc Nest
The roc perches on the side of the nest, watching you intently.

>girgol
As you cast the spell, the flimsy scroll vanishes!
At first, nothing happens. Then you notice subtle changes in your surroundings. Nothing is moving. You can see dust motes hanging in midair, and a tiny gnat, its wings motionless, unknowingly defying gravity.

>take cube
It's immobilized.

Guess that it freezes everything but us, and we've wasted our Girgol scroll, so...

>restore

Please supply a filename for restore
Okay.


Now, there was a room described as "Cliff Middle," which implies that there's a top. Here goes nothing!

>u
Cliff Top
This is the upper end of a narrow, winding path up a sheer cliff. From here you can see that any further extension of the path was destroyed by a rock slide at some relatively recent time. There are many rocks precariously balanced above you. It looks like the slightest disturbance could bring them down on you. Frustratingly, you can see the remains of a small building just beyond the dangerous area, but there is no way to get there from here.

And this seems like a good place to stop. Catch ya later!

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through.
A big big big big snake snake snake!
A hayfeverish ogre who won't let me through a passage in his cave.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.
A small inaccessible building beyond the unstable area in Cliff Top.

Unexplored areas:
Down from Cave.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth
a flimsy scroll (the girgol spell)
a zipper
a chunk of rye bread
a smoked fish
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).
As well as a single shot of the girgol spell, which stops time and prevents me from interacting with the world in any way other than moving.

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent), Yomin

Our score is 80 of a possible 600, in 203 moves. This puts us in the class of Parlor Magician.

Death toll: 1 (fell to my death)

If that's the case, could we girgol in order to get past the ogre?

And for some lateral thinking, cause plants to grow in order to stabilize the cliff? I don't know if your spell is powerful enough for that.

Can we perhaps lesoch the rocks and then run? The rocks will fall, and the path will be clear. Either that or it'll kill us. Or do nothing.

Of today's suggestions, we can do two from the clifftop, and the other isn't too far a journey. First, though, we should make sure that there actually are some plants to throck up here. So...

>l
Cliff Top
This is the upper end of a narrow, winding path up a sheer cliff. From here you can see that any further extension of the path was destroyed by a rock slide at some relatively recent time. There are many rocks precariously balanced above you. It looks like the slightest disturbance could bring them down on you. Frustratingly, you can see the remains of a small building just beyond the dangerous area, but there is no way to get there from here.

No plants, but maybe Throck can cause spontaneous growth?

>throck plants
I don't know the word "plants."

Guess not. But maybe...

>lesoch rocks
The casting feels wrong, and sure enough, nothing happens.

Something you've done has disturbed the rocks above! Dirt and small stones are trickling down. It looks like the whole dike is about to give way!

Although the spell failed, lesoching the rocks would still start an avalanche, as would moving one of the rocks. However, the avalanches also occur randomly, so I was just (un)lucky this time.

Time to demonstrate the better part of valor!

>d
Cliff Middle

Huge rocks and boulders are tumbling down, making an almost continuous curtain above you. If you don't do something soon, you will die!

>d
Cliff Bottom

Thousands of tons of rock are tumbling down the mountainside!

>w
Cave Entrance

You hear the tremendous sliding, deep-voiced roar of thousands of tons of rock tumbling down the mountain to your east.

Well, we escaped the avalanche, and we're right outside the ogre's cave. First, though, let's wait for the avalanche to stop, then check out the clifftop to see if there was any change.

>z
Time passes...

You hear the tremendous sliding, deep-voiced roar of thousands of tons of rock tumbling down the mountain to your east.

>z
Time passes...

You hear a noise from within the cave that sounds like a sneeze.

Seems safe to check now...

>l
Cliff Top
This is the upper end of a narrow, winding path up a sheer cliff. From here you can see that any further extension of the path was destroyed by a rock slide at some relatively recent time. There are many rocks precariously balanced above you. It looks like the slightest disturbance could bring them down on you. Frustratingly, you can see the remains of a small building just beyond the dangerous area, but there is no way to get there from here.

Something you've done has disturbed the rocks above! Dirt and small stones are trickling down. It looks like the whole dike is about to give way!

Nope. Still no change, and the clifftop is as dangerous as ever. So, after quickly escaping back to the ogre's lair...

>girgol
As you cast the spell, the flimsy scroll vanishes!
The ogre, who was gesticulating wildly, freezes in place. He looks like a particularly bad statue of himself. Even his lice aren't moving.

So, into the lair...

Ogre Lair
This small but cozy hole is the ogre's lair. Moldy, filthy furs piled in one corner make a crude bed. There is a rocky crawl up to the main part of the cave.
There is a gold box here.
There is a dusty scroll here.

Although we won't be able to take the loot until time restarts, we can still look at it, and that's just what we'll do.

>read scroll
The scroll reads "espnis spell: sleep."

>examine box
The gold box is small, richly ornamented with allegorical figures of dolphins and cryptic symbols. It has a small latch which holds closed the lid.

I wonder what could be inside?

>open box
It's immobilized.

Oh, that's right. Time is stopped. Well, at least I can wait it out, so...

>z
Time passes...

Time resumes its forward flight.
The ogre, impatient with your presence and your impudent intrusion, charges in and tramples you to a pulp.

**** You have died ****

You are floating in a dark, silent realm of nothingness. You don't know how much time passes, but eventually you hear the sound of soft footsteps. A figure in a dark cloak comes near. In a voice like ashes, it speaks: "You really don't seem to be able to take care of yourself, do you? A little more circumspection and prudence might be in order, don't you think?"

You find yourself falling down a deep well of darkness, as the figure recedes into infinite distances.

Boneyard

Well, that was a bad idea. There must be some other way to get past the ogre, but what? And if that wasn't the use of girgol, then what is it? That's for you to find out, my loyal apprentices.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a zipper
a chunk of rye bread
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).
As well as a single shot of the girgol spell, which stops time and prevents me from interacting with the world in any way other than moving...at least, I'll have that single shot AFTER I've restored to before sneaking past the ogre.

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent)

Our score is 80 of a possible 600, in 236 moves. This puts us in the class of Parlor Magician.

Death toll: 2 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre)

Well, we can't rely on magic, and we do have a knife. Kill the blasted ogre and take his stuff!

How about using girgol at Cliff Top? Frozen pre-avalanche rubble should be stable pre-avalanche rubble.

First of all, I apologize for missing yesterday's update, but I had a very long day and a lot of homework to do. But that's in the past, so here's today's update. First of all, attacking an ogre with a knife might seem to be a rather bad idea. But hey, I must have it for a reason, right?

>kill ogre with knife
The ogre contemptuously fends you off.

Well, that actually went much better than I expected. After all, I'm still alive. Now, for the other suggestion I've received, to use Girgol on the clifftop and stabilize the rubble. Back to the cliff top, then...

>girgol
As you cast the spell, the flimsy scroll vanishes!
At first, nothing happens. Then you notice subtle changes in your surroundings. Nothing is moving. You can see dust motes hanging in midair, and a tiny gnat, its wings motionless, unknowingly defying gravity.

>u
Even frozen in place, the rocks are so jumbled that you can't climb up them. You would need full mountaineering equipment even to try.

So, that didn't quite work, but I will say that Droewyn is on the right path to solving this puzzle. I actually know the solution this time, but can you figure it out?

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a zipper
a chunk of rye bread
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).
As well as a single shot of the girgol spell, which stops time and prevents me from interacting with the world in any way other than moving...at least, I'll have that single shot AFTER I've restored to before girgol-ing the avalanche.

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent), Yomin

Our score is 80 of a possible 600, in 203* moves. This puts us in the class of Parlor Magician.

Death toll: 2 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre)

*- It's less than the previous update because I restored to before wasting Girgol on the ogre, if you're wondering.

Start the rock slide first and then freeze it in place. That way you can climb up the gentle slope. Though how far do you have to climb and how long does the freezing last are probably things we should figure out, don't want to be on the rocks when they start sliding again.

I approve of this plan. And maybe you could cast caskly on self? Being perfect would aid in climbing, I'd imagine.

Both of the suggestions for today's update are linked, so I'll do them. But first, I might want to go down and test Girgol to see how long it lasts. In the ogre's lair, it lasted five turns, but it might vary, like the time between avalanches. So...

>d
Cliff Middle

>d
Cliff Bottom

>girgol
As you cast the spell, the flimsy scroll vanishes!
At first, nothing happens. Then you notice subtle changes in your surroundings. Nothing is moving. You can see dust motes hanging in midair, and a tiny gnat, its wings motionless, unknowingly defying gravity.

>z
Time passes...

>z
Time passes...

>z
Time passes...

>z
Time passes...

Time resumes its forward flight.

Hmm, this time it lasted four turns. Maybe it does vary? Actually, it might have lasted four turns in the ogre's lair, too, seeing as one of those turns was wasted on trying to open the frozen box. So, back up the cliff with the Restore spell, then...

>memorize caskly
Using your best study habits, you learn the caskly spell.

>caskly me
How singularly useless.

Something you've done has disturbed the rocks above! Dirt and small stones are trickling down. It looks like the whole dike is about to give way!

Of course, Caskly-ing me would be quite redundant. ;-) Oh, and the avalanche has started. It would probably be a good idea to Girgol soon...

>girgol
As you cast the spell, the flimsy scroll vanishes!
At first, nothing happens. Then you notice subtle changes in your surroundings. Nothing is moving. You can see dust motes hanging in midair, and a tiny gnat, its wings motionless, unknowingly defying gravity.

Now, to climb up the avalanche!

>u
Even frozen in place, the rocks are so jumbled that you can't climb up them. You would need full mountaineering equipment even to try.

Guess that they're still a bit too jumbled. Since there were no other suggestions, I'll end it here, and if no one has figured out the solution*, I'll post it tomorrow. See you then!

Inventory (annotations in italic):
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a zipper
a chunk of rye bread
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).
As well as a single shot of the girgol spell, which stops time and prevents me from interacting with the world in any way other than moving...at least, I'll have that single shot AFTER I've restored to before girgol-ing the avalanche.

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent), Yomin

Our score is 80 of a possible 600, in 206 moves. This puts us in the class of Parlor Magician.

Death toll: 2 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre)

*- Free hint: Look back at the earlier descriptions of the avalanche.

I was thinking more start the crumbling avalanche and wait until it gives that "if you don't do something now you will die" message, then freeze time and run like mad.

Agreed, maybe wait until the "continuous curtain" happens before Girgoling? Otherwise I'm out of ideas.

On another puzzle, do rocs like smoked fish?

Indeed, this is the solution. So...

>move rock
You gingerly touch a rock, which tilts a little. Another rock slides into the gap, triggering a larger one to fall. Suddenly, the entire mountainside begins to tumble down.

Huge rocks and boulders are tumbling down, making an almost continuous curtain above you. If you don't do something soon, you will die!

ZA WARUDO!

>girgol
As you cast the spell, the flimsy scroll vanishes!
At first, nothing happens. Then you notice that the rocks are no longer falling. Dust hangs suspended in the air. Rocks appear wired in place. The mountainside that threatened to bury you floats serenely in midair.

Toki wo tomare.
Anyway, now that the avalanche is frozen, we can climb it. Hope that time doesn't restart when I'm climbing...

>u
Boulder
You are clinging to a boulder that is floating in midair. There are many other boulders around, also floating, and lots of dust and dirt, also not moving. One particularly large boulder with good handholds is above you. Below you is the cliff face.

>u
Boulder
You are clinging to a boulder that is floating in midair. There are many other boulders around, also floating, and lots of dust and dirt, also not moving. A nice oblong boulder is above, and another large one is below you.

>u
Boulder
You are clinging to a boulder that is floating in midair. There are many other boulders around, also floating, and lots of dust and dirt, also not moving. Below you is a long oblong boulder. Above you there are no more boulders, but there is a continuation of the trail that you were on.

>u
Mountain Top
This is the top of the mountain. There is a crudely built stone hut nearby to the west.
There is a gold coin here.

Looks like I made it. Now to wait for time to restart.

>z
Time passes...

>z
Time passes...

>z
Time passes...

You hear a gigantic rush of sound as an avalanche tumbles down the mountain.

You hear the tremendous sliding, deep-voiced roar of thousands of tons of rock tumbling down the mountain.

Seems like my theory was right - the time that Girgol lasts does vary. Now, to do what text adventurers do best:

>get coin
Taken.

You hear the tremendous sliding, deep-voiced roar of thousands of tons of rock tumbling down the mountain.

There's not much on this mountain besides the hut, so let's check it out!

>w
Stone Hut
The hut is made of irregular stones. The walls are chinked with moss, mud, small stones, a featureless white cube, and an occasional old fur. There is an exit to the east.
Squatting on the floor is a wild-haired, bearded hermit who is looking at you with ill-concealed dislike.

Ooh, a featureless white cube! I know what to do with this!

>get cube
The hermit springs between you and the cube. "Not so fast! That thing holds up the whole hut. It's the keystone. Don't touch it."

Well, darn. Droewyn suggested offering the roc the smoked fish, but I don't want to leave the mountaintop without that cube, since I'm fresh out of Girgol spells and I won't be able to get back up. So, what to do to get the hermit to give me the cube? And don't worry, Droewyn, I'll try giving the roc the fish once I've got that cube. Also, what should I call the cube if and when I get it? Keep in mind these two things: it's linked with the element of Connectivity, and names can only be up to six letters.

Current puzzles:
An exit that I can't force my way through.
A big big big big snake snake snake!
A hayfeverish ogre who won't let me through a passage in his cave.
A cube in the nest of a very protective roc.
A cube being used to hold up a cranky old hermit's hut.

Inventory (annotations in italic):
a gold coin
the "rocky" cube (when blorpled, leads to Packed Earth)
a smoked fish (providing light courtesy of the frotz spell)
a zipper
a chunk of rye bread
a magic burin, used to engrave things on cubes
a knife
a spell book

Spells (annotations in italics):
The caskly spell (cause perfection).
The throck spell (cause plants to grow).
The blorple spell (explore an object's mystic connections).
The yomin spell (mind probe).
The rezrov spell (open even locked or enchanted objects).
The frotz spell (cause something to give off light).
The gnusto spell (write a magic spell into a spell book).
The malyon spell (animate).
The jindak spell (detect magic).
The lesoch spell (gust of wind).

Spells memorized:
Gnusto (permanent), Rezrov (permanent), Frotz (permanent), Yomin

Our score is 80 of a possible 600, in 220 moves. This puts us in the class of Parlor Magician.

Death toll: 2 (fell to my death, trampled to death by an angry and hayfeverish ogre)

Throck the moss. Failing that, Caskly the hut. Regardless, Yomin the hermit.